Food in Nunavut still costs up to 3 times national average

Annual food survey compiles prices of common foods in all 25 Nunavut communities

A price tag lists the price and subsidy of a 4-litre jug of milk at a grocery store in Iqaluit in December 2014. A new food price survey shows Nunavummiut still pay far more than the rest of Canada for basic items. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

It likely won't come as a surprise to northerners, but the Nunavut Bureau of Statistics' newest food price survey shows people in the territory still pay two or even three times as much as the average Canadian for basic necessities.

Every March, the government agency collects food prices in all 25 Nunavut communities and compares that data with average Canadian prices compiled by Statistics Canada for the CPI Food Price Basket.

At $6.90, a 1-kilogram bag of carrots costs three times more in Nunavut than it does in the average Canadian grocery store ($2.25).

Shoppers in Nunavut pay $13.70 for a 2.5-kilogram bag of flour, which is 2.7 times more than the average $5.00 across the country.

The data also applies to some other basic necessities, including a 100-millilitre tube of toothpaste, which costs $6.05 in Nunavut, or $2.61 nationally.

For example, the average price of a 1-kilogram bag of apples was $7.26 in Nunavut this March, as opposed to $6.30 in March 2015.

Take a look at the full list of price comparisons, including differences in Nunavut's three regions.

The Nunavut Bureau of Statistic's newest food price comparison shows many basic food items in Canada still cost far more in the territory than they do in the average Canadian grocery store. (Submitted by Nunavut Bureau of Statistics)